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BATON ROUGE – If you can’t block them, throw it before they get to you. That was Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen’s major adjustment in the second half of his game against LSU Saturday after his offense was held to a mere 88 passing yards and 109 total yards and a field goal in the first half.

State quarterback Dak Prescott was 23-of-32 passing in the second half for 247 yards and a touchdown after completing just 11 of 20 for 88 yards in the first half. Prescott finished with 34 completions out of a career high 52 passes for 335 yards and nearly pulled out a win before a missed, 52-yard field goal as time expired that saved the Tigers’ 21-19 victory.

“They just went straight to the quick pass and straight zone read for a quick route,” LSU defensive end Tashawn Bower said Monday. “I don’t know the exact routes, but I know he got the ball out of there pretty quick. By the time we could get loose, that ball was gone really fast.”

Prescott enjoyed the quicker releases after being sacked twice in the first quarter for -21 yards with both coming over a three-play stretch in the same drive by defensive end Arden Key and defensive tackle Davon Godchaux. Prescott was sacked only once more the rest of the game with Lewis Neal getting the third one for -7 yards in the fourth quarter.

“Yeah, I think we definitely got under his skin a little bit, but he’s still someone who kept his poise and understood what it takes to come back after the halftime adjustments,” Bower said.

“Even if we didn’t get the sack, we made him feel uncomfortable,” defensive tackle Christian LaCouture said. “We didn’t do that last year against him.”

State beat LSU, 34-29, last season as Prescott threw for 268 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for another 105 yards and a touchdown. LSU held him to -19 yards rushing Saturday.

“We kept him in the pocket,” LaCouture said. “That was our plan.”

LSU (1-0 overall, 1-0 SEC) finished with eight quarterback hurries and will need similar pressure this Saturday against Auburn (2-0) and junior quarterback Jeremy Johnson, who tends to stay in the pocket as Prescott did. Kickoff is at 2:30 p.m. on CBS.

“He’s a little bit more of a prototype, NFL-style passer,” LSU coach Les Miles said. “Although, he can run. But he’s not one of those guys that you’re going to dial up 20 runs a game.”

WASHINGTON PRACTICING AGAIN: True freshman defensive end Isaiah Washington may be able to help LSU with its pass rush against Auburn as well as he returned to practice this week after not dressing out for the Mississippi State game with a broken hand suffered during preseason practice. He was also not dressed out for the McNeese State game on Sept. 5 that was cancelled by weather.

“He’ll be counted on here pretty quick to play very significant football,” Miles said. “That’s good news because he’s got great speed and gives some quickness there.”

JEFFERSON FILLS FOR MILLS: Junior Rickey Jefferson had seven tackles and two pass breakups at free safety at Mississippi State as he replaced senior Jalen Mills in the starting lineup. Mills missed the game with an ankle injury and is not expected to play against Auburn either.

“He’s ballistic,” Miles said of Jefferson. “He adds great speed to the ball. And when he gets there, he’ll hit you. Rickey played well in that game. He worked hard to get some things accomplished in the game plan. He had a very, very good game.”